Thursday, December 18, 2014

While most of us are scurrying about tending to holiday-induced deadlines, some are
more concerned about having a successful deer hunting season, which ends on
January 1st in Watauga. Last weekend, Extension livestock agent Eddy
Labus and I offered a deer butchery and processing workshop. I was amazed at
how much effort it takes to cut edible muscles off of a carcass.

Fortunately,
either home butchering or using a local processor yields a good amount of
edible protein, averaging 48% from a field dressed carcass. Not only does the
meat have a rich flavor, nutritionally, deer meat is lower in fat and higher in
iron than even the leanest cuts of beef.

The
easiest way to preserve meat is to freeze it. Use a good packaging that
prevents air contact, such as freezer wrap, aluminum foil, or butcher wrap. If
you choose freezer bags, it’s important to make as air-tight as possible.
Vacuum sealers work well. Keep a thermometer in your freezer to make sure it is
below zero degrees.

Canning
venison is much more time consuming than freezing, but has the advantage of
keeping safe in case of a power outage. Meat must be canned in a pressure
canner, which makes it really tender. For more information, visit the national
center for home food preservation at http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/strips_cubes_chunks.html

Meat
jerky is convenient to take along backpacking, hiking, climbing, or hunting.
Here is an easy recipe that also works well for beef. Boiling the meat in
marinade heats the meat to a temperature that kills any dangerous
microorganisms.

Deer or
beef jerky

Place
the meat you plan to cut in the freezer until slightly frozen, to make it
easier to cut into thin strips. With a very sharp knife, slice across the grain,
1/8 to ¼ inch thick, 1 to 1 ½ inches wide and 4 to 10 inches long. Marinate in
the refrigerator at least one hour, but preferably overnight. This recipe will
marinate 1 ½ to 2 pounds of meat:

¼ cup
soy sauce

1
tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

¼
teaspoon each black pepper and garlic powder

½
teaspoon onion powder

1
teaspoon liquid smoke

When
ready to begin drying, make more of the marinade to cook the meat in. This
recipe makes 2 cups of marinade.

1 ½
cups soy sauce

6
tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 ½
teaspoon each black pepper and garlic powder

3
teaspoons onion powder

6
teaspoons liquid smoke

Bring
to a rolling boil. Add strips and reheat to full boil. Boil for one minute.
Remove the pan from the heat and place strips on drying rack. Make sure there
is plenty of air flow by not letting strips touch each other.

Using a
dehydrator, set at 155 degrees. Check after 2 hours and if not dry, turn. May
take up to 4 hours to dry. Properly dried jerky is chewy and leathery. To see
if it’s dry enough, let cool, then bend the jerky. It should crack, but not
break when bent. Store in the refrigerator for a longer life, up to six months.
Will keep up to two months at room temperature.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Friday, November 14, 2014

Even
though our first snow has fallen, local food is still available. Some producers
with green houses or tunnels continue to grow throughout the winter. There are
also products such as meat, bakery items, canned items, and craft beers that
are not sensitive to the cold. Here are a few ways to procure local food
throughout the winter:

The Watauga County farmers’ market
is open on Saturdays from 9 until 1 through November. Seasonal produce includes
apples, greens, cabbage, potatoes, garlic, carrots, turnips, and winter squash.
A good variety of meat is available including beef, lamb, pork and chicken. You
will also find eggs, breads, bagels, and pastries, jams, jellies, and molasses.

High Country CSA is a multi-farm
endeavor, and they are rolling out a new online ordering platform soon that
will enable consumers to order products throughout the winter.Go to highcountrycsa.org to sign up to
receive updates.

Wild Pilgrim
Farmstead,
located in Caldwell County, delivers organically raised meats and fresh produce
to Boone throughout the winter. Caldwell is typically 10 degrees warmer than
Watauga in the winter, plus they grow in greenhouses, allowing for great
variety. The delivery site is the visitor’s center on Blowing Rock road, Thursdays from 4:30 to 5:30. For more information, visit Wild
Pilgrim Farmstead on Facebook or contact them at wildpilgrimfarmstead@gmail.com.

North Fork Farm, located in
Zionville, offers a variety of high quality, grass-fed meat, including vacuum
packed frozen beef, pork and chicken. Check out their selection at http://northforkfarmbeef.com/price-list/ They take
orders by e mail, northforkfarm@skybest.com, or by phone
828-297-5755 / 828-773-0305. After placing your order, they will arrange a
place to deliver. Also have a store on their farm, but call first before
visiting.

Chestnut Grove Farms, located off of hwy 194 towards Todd, offers a
variety of cuts of Angus beef that graze on a mixture of orchard, clover, and
timothy grasses. Check out the selection at http://www.chestnutgrovefarms.net/buy-our-beef.htmlBare
Essentials natural market carries their beef, or you may call them at 264-7764 to arrange a delivery.

Springhouse Farm, located in Vilas, has pasture-raised pork
available. Pricing and contact information is on their website, http://www.springhousefarm.net/

Bare Essentials Natural
Market
has supported the local food system for many years. Located at 273 Boone
Heights Dr. in Boone, they offer a variety of produce, meat, eggs, honey, Bald
Guy Brew coffee, and pasta.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Just
like leaf peeping, carving and tasting pumpkins is an expected fall treat in
the High Country. Field pumpkins, which are bred for jack-o'-lanterns, tend to
be too large and stringy for baking, and not as sweet as baking varieties. Pumpkins
are members of the squash family.

Similar
to pumpkin baking varieties, there are many types of winter squash that grow
well here, including Acorn, Spaghetti, Butternut, Blue Hokkaido, Hubbard,
Kobocha, and Delicata. Go ahead and stock up, since if stored in a cool place,
they last for up to three months.

Nutritionally,
one cup of mashed pumpkin contains only 49 calories, but boasts 245% of your recommended
daily value for vitamin A, converted from the
brilliant orange beta-carotene. Vitamin A is essential for
eye health and help the retina absorb and process light. This
large
amount of A also helps your body fight infections, viruses and infectious
diseases. Plus,
pumpkin is packed with nearly 20 percent of the recommended daily
amount of daily vitamin C, which may help you recover from colds faster.People who eat a beta-carotene-rich
diet may have a lower risk of some types of cancer,
including prostate and lung cancer.

A
five pound pumpkin or winter squash should yield around 4½ cups mashed. This
may be used in all recipes calling for canned pumpkin.

Here
is an easy way to transform an uncooked winter squash into the puree used in
baking:

Pumpkin puree
for recipes

Scrub
with a vegetable brush under running water just before cutting. Cut in half and
discard the stem section and stringy pulp.

In
a baking dish, place the two halves face down. Add an inch of water to the
dish.

Bake
in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 1½ hours, or until tender.

Once
it has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree or mash it.

You
can refrigerate your fresh pumpkin puree for up to three days, or store it in
the freezer up to a year, enabling you to enjoy fall pumpkins for months to
come.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Another successful Watauga County Operation Medicine Cabinet this past Saturday! Thank you to our wonderful law enforcement for supporting this valuable community program, including; Watauga County Sheriff's Office, Foscoe Police Department and Volunteer Fire Dept, Blowing Rock Police Department & Boone Police Department! Thank you to all in the community who came out to support the event! Results: 37,722 pills, 5,826 sharps, 327oz of liquids collected and incinerated!

Sheriff L.D. Hagaman deposits the thousands of pills collected on Saturday in the incineration barrel.

If you forgot about Saturdays collection, no worries! There are options!

1.) Appalachian State University Operation Medicine Cabinet this Friday, October 31 from 11am to 2pm in the Solarium Lobby at the Plemmon's Student Union.

2.) Project Lazarus Mailboxes are now located in the lobbies of the Boone Police Department and the Watauga County Sheriff's Office and you can drop off your unused, expired meds any time!

The new Project Lazarus mailboxes located in the Boone Police Department and Watauga County Sheriff's Office Lobbies.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

High Country
Environmental Technology Tour: Come
see environmental technology being put to use in Watauga County.

When:Nov. 13th from 1:00-4:00p.m.

Stops on the tour:

Boone Wetlands:Wendy Patoprsty, Natural Resource Agent
Watauga Extension Service will give background on how the wetlands were
constructed, how the wetlands function to protect our water, she’ll show us
wetland plants and how she propagates them.She will also discuss other ongoing water mitigation projects in the
Watauga County area.

ASU Recycling
Facilities:Grant Powers, Recycling
Coordinator for ASU Physical Plant, will show us what goes on behind the scene in
the ASU recycling department.Using
information gathered in the 2013 Waste Audit, they have developed new methods to
handle large volumes of recyclable materials to implement new and innovative
ways to reduce landfill waste and work towards the goal of zero landfill waste
on campus and at football games.

ASU Composting
Operations:Eric Dendy will show us
how ASU is increasing the amount of compostable materials that are recovered
from the waste stream.They are also
working with vendors to reduce the use of materials such as styrofoam and
increase the amount of compostable materials.We will see how they handle large volumes of material through the
composting process to produce a product that is usable here on the ASU campus.

ASU Appropriate
Technology Greenhouse:This
greenhouse is located at the top end of the Watauga County landfill.Graduate Students will show us how they are
studying the use of solar thermal panels, anaerobic digesters and compost heating
systems.Wind power along with waste
heat from the biovolitization is a possible means that local growers could
feasibly heat a greenhouse for winter food and ornamental production in the
high country.

Where: Meet on the
Boone Greenway Pavilions at the Clawson-Burnley Park off Hunting Hills Lane,
Boone. Click here for directions to the park (scroll down and you will see a map on the Explore Boone website)

Please call The Watuaga Extension Office at 828-264-3061 by Nov.
12th to let us know you if plan on attending, transportation will be
provided or you may caravan to the sites.

About Us

Watauga County Cooperative Extension provides residents easy access to resources and expertise of NC State University and NC A&T State University on a wide array of topics. Please browse our site or contact us by phone: 828.264.3061.

We are located at 971 West King Street, Boone, NC 28607.

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